Donald Campbell

Supervisory Hydrologist, Branch Chief

Short Biography

As Don was finishing his graduate work at Colorado State in 1983, he heard that the USGS needed a body to ride horses into the wilderness and collect water quality samples. Thus began a career with the USGS Colorado Water Science Center studying the hydrology and biogeochemistry of lakes and streams.His research interests include flowpath contols on surface-water chemistry, physical and chemical processes during snow accumulation and melt, episodic and chronic acidification of alpine and subalpine aquatic ecosystems, nitrogen cycling in high-altitude watersheds, bio­geochemical processes in headwater basins, application of stable isotope techniques, atmospheric deposition and fate of mercury and organic pollutants, and the effects of climate on water availability.After 24 years as a research scientist and team leader, he spent 2 years as Associate Director for Hydrologic Investigations in the Colorado Water Science Center.Since 2010, Don has served as Central Branch Chief for the National Research Program.

Kendall, C., Silva, S.R., Chang, C.C.Y, Burns, D.A., Campbell, D.H., and Shanley, J.B., 1995, Use of the ?18O and ?15N of nitrate to determine sources of nitrate in early spring runoff in forested catchments: in Isotopes in water resources management,proceedings of an International Atomic Energy Agency symposium, Vienna, Austria, March 20-24, 1995, IAEA-SM-336/29, pp.167-176.

Turk, J.T. and Campbell, D.H., 1997, Are aquatic resources of the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area in Colorado affected by acid depostion and what will emissions reductions at the locat power plants do? U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-043-97.

Belnap, Jayne, and Campbell, D.H., 2011, Effects of climate change and land use on water resources in the Upper Colorado River Basin: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2010–3123, 6 p. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3123/